Wife of jailed journalist Polad Aslanov says prison chief beat him
Gulmira Aslanova says the journalist was beaten by the head of Penitentiary Institution No. 15 and a staff member on the day he began his hunger strike.
Gulmira Aslanova, the wife of jailed journalist Polad Aslanov, has said he was beaten by Ramig Nasibov, head of Penitentiary Institution No. 15, and a staff member of the institution on the day he began a hunger strike in protest against the hijab ban. According to her, she learned of the incident during a phone call with Polad Aslanov on October 29.
Polad Aslanov has been on a hunger strike since October 12 in protest against the ban on wearing the hijab in schools in Azerbaijan. On October 15 he was transferred to the Medical Institution of the Penitentiary Service. The journalist has asked to be provided with a lawyer in connection with what happened.
According to Aslanova, she is not allowed to visit her husband, and the journalist, who started the hunger strike weighing 52 kilograms, now weighs 42 kilograms.
Polad Aslanov, head of the Xeberman.com website, was arrested on June 12, 2019, and sentenced to 13 years in prison after being found guilty of “high treason.” He rejects the charges.
